Request and vote a mail-in ballot in one visit (vote early) at the courthouse on Montgomery Ave. in the Penn Valley business district through Monday night.  Details below.

Lower Merion Magisterial District Court building

In-person Voting With Mail Ballot
925 Montgomery Ave
Penn Valley, PA 19072

10/26    Saturday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
10/27    Sunday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
10/28    Monday, 4:30 PM to 8:30 PM
10/29    Tuesday, Closed

If you already have a mail-in ballot, you can drop it off at the courthouse or the Ludington Library until 8pm on election day.  

Mail-in ballots cannot be returned to your polling location on Election Day.  

If you plan to put them in the mail instead of taking them to a physical drop box location, do it right away because they must be received by Election Day (not postmarked by Election Day).  Don't forget to put them into the security envelope, and sign and date them.

Mail-in ballot drop-off box locations:

Lower Merion Magisterial District Court building
925 Montgomery Ave, Narbeth, PA 19072

Ludington Library

5 South Bryn Mawr Ave

Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 

Look up voting locations here:  https://iwillvote.com/locate/?state=PA

Please also consider signing up for the Stand Up4LM newsletter (by emailing standuplowermerion@gmail.com) and Lower Merion Township Sustainability newsletters.  Sign up for Commissioner Woodring's fantastic newsletters by emailing jwoodring@lowermerion.org.   Lower Merion Township's list of email newsletters is here.  I highly recommend these as excellent sources of local information especially since I don't have the time to write informational emails myself like I used to. 

Fall land stewardship tip:  Consider thinking of fallen leaves as a resource.  Leave them where they fall under trees and shrubs to feed the trees, provide essential cover for overwintering insects (fireflies, native bees, butterfly chrysalises, toads), provide food for local winter birds, retain soil moisture during this intense drought, prevent soil erosion, improve stormwater management, and honor the beauty of fall.  As they decompose, they incorporate organic matter into the soil which greatly improves carbon sequestration -- removing excess carbon from the atmosphere so that your yard is a better carbon sink.  If you have to remove them from the lawn and hardscaping, consider composting them for re-use around shrubs and trees, in vegetable beds, as mulch on bare ground, or as a way to smother the lawn to create pollinator gardens or new woodland gardens for next season.  While non-native turf grasses won't grow well with a heavy layer of leaves, more ecologically-valuable plants like violets, spring wildflowers, ferns, and new tree saplings do.  Reducing leaf blowing also reduces noise and air pollution for neighbors and reduces fossil fuel burning that otherwise contributes to climate change.  Pine needles are leaves too and do best when left as natural mulch beneath the trees where they fall as nature intended.  More information for homeowners and landscapers is here.  While not traditional cultural practice in recent decades, leaving leaves is now viewed as an essential Earth-friendly, sustainable land care and good citizenship practice.  Thanks for doing your part to be part of the change.

Please email pennvalleycivic@gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering with the Penn Valley Civic. If any of the following applies to you, please contact us. Thanks for your help!

• You have an interest in helping to represent and advocate for your community

• You enjoy working with local officials and elected representatives and can help to connect residents to those that can address concerns or answer questions

• You can follow local policy news to help compile a regular email newsletter for residents

• You are available to help take meeting minutes and/or update the civic website

• You have new ideas for our business district and for building community

• You have an interest in educating about land stewardship and/or leading community tree plantings

• You are good at maintaining a member database and communicating by email with members

• You know others who might be a good fit for any of the previous

  or

• You are simply willing to learn!

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October and November 2022 - 4 tree plantings by PVCA members in our business district!

Penn Valley Tree Tender volunteers plant more trees at Pencoyd Park - November 2023

1st Penn Valley Civic Spring Community Fair a Success! See photos of the event here!

Music, food, and community in the Staples back lot (933 Montgomery Ave., Penn Valley). All welcome! Please join us! Contact Kristina Sie Chang to help or sponsor the event: ksiechang@comcast.net

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PENN VALLEY BIKE RIDE

SUNDAY, JUNE 5, 9AM

Join Main Line Cycles and Lou Savastani of the Narberth Cycling Club on a group ride from the Penn Valley business district and back again. Meet at Main Line Cycles at 919 Montgomery Ave., Penn Valley at 9am.

Both the 5 and 10 mile route below are possible--designed for bicyclists of all ages and abilities.

The shorter version of the ride is 5.5 miles. Follows the “upper east” section of the Greenway to Cynwyd station, then the “lower east” section back to Narberth. This would be a good option for any inexperienced riders or anyone with kids: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38544099

The longer version of the ride is 10.4 miles. This one follows the same course to start, but then loops through Ardmore and Suburban Square: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38544197

The full greenway can be found here: https://www.mainlinegreenway.bike/network

DEDICATION AND CELEBRATION OF THE NEW BELMONT HILLS LIBRARY GARDENS

Please join us on Saturday, April 30 at 2pm for a celebration and dedication of the new native plant monarch garden in front of the Belmont Hills Library. A dedicated group of local volunteers planted the garden last fall as part of an ecological landscape transformation project. Join us to learn what's needed to create your own garden to support monarch butterflies and other pollinators. See what a new garden planting looks like as young plants emerge, and meet our amazing local librarian, Lizzie Barrie! Thanks to Lizzie and the BH Library board for their support!

Join the Penn Valley Tree Tenders Group!

We need more local tree planters and caretakers. Planting trees is a powerful way to improve the health of our community! The next Tree Tenders Basic Training will occur on Wednesdays, May 4-25th, 2022, in the evenings by ZOOM. Email us if you're interested (pennvalleycivic@gmail.com). If you’re a Penn Valley resident, we’ll pay for your training. Registration opens soon. Tree Tenders is a volunteer-based community tree planting program of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and we’d like to grow our local group!

See the photos below of our tree plantings in spring of 2021. Pencoyd Park was the lucky recipient of 4 serviceberries and a native chestnut oak. Thanks to Jen and Ava Kelly for helping to keep the trees alive during a hot dry spring.

American naturalist Aldo leopold said that “When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” We hope you’ll join the Penn Valley Civic Association in viewing our land/properties as integral to our community. Learn more about stewarding your space here.

Why and How to Love your Leaves

• Leave Leaves Alone - Ideas for reducing pollution, saving money, and benefiting wildlife and the environment with your leaves

• Leave the Leaves! Xerces Society - How to benefit wildlife with leaves

• Learn how leaves can benefit lawn and perennial beds - Fine Gardening

  Other Land Stewardship Links…

• Healthy Yards (Your yard can help to fight climate change, support the local ecosystem, keep streams healthy and more!)

• Bringing Nature Home - Homegrown National Park - Doug Tallamy

• Lower Merion Conservancy - Rain Garden Guide

• Lower Merion Township Bamboo Ordinance

• Invasive Species - PA

• The Pollinator Pathway of Lower Merion and Narberth - Join us!

• How to Talk to Your Landscaper about Earth-Friendly Practices - Healthy Yards

• Where to Buy Native Plants - Penn State Extension

• Reducing Pesticide Use and Impacts - Xerces Society

• PHS Tree Tenders Training Program - Learn how to plan and tend trees

• Road Salt Affects Local Streams

• Information about gas-powered leaf blowers - Help us reduce pollution

• More info about gas-powered leaf blowers

• Road salt and chlorides - Keep our streams clean

• Info on Composting - Lower Merion EAC

• More info on backyard composting

• National Wildlife Federation - Native Plant Finder (Search for high value native plants for your area)

• Climate Action Lower Merion - Easy changes for sustainable living

HOW TO REQUEST A STREET TREE FROM LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP

If you would like the Township to plant a tree in the Public Right of Way at your address, please provide your name, address and email to the Township Arborist, Joe Marco (jmarco@lowermerion.org).

The Township will consider all applications for appropriate planting sites and will advise you of the decision via email. They cannot guarantee your site is suitable ie: utility conflicts, street signs, or driveways but we will make every effort to provide you with a tree. Plantings take place in the fall.

Purchase a Rain Barrel from Lower Merion Township

Call Holly at 610-645-6271

Recommended Books by Entomologist Doug Tallamy

Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope

PVCA wishes everyone in our community much patience and good health during these challenging times!

If you need a place to walk outside, the Bridlewild trails are open.  Check the All Trails app to find trails near you.